by Mark Fihn

The DisplaySearch Monitor, December 2, 2004 -  The Standard Panels Working Group (SPWG) continues to bring about standards related to the displays used in notebook PCs. Since announcing v3.0 of the SPWG specification in February 2004, 24 new companies have joined the SPWG’s efforts, bringing total representation in the ad hoc group to more than 80 companies.

In August 2004, the SPWG announced the addition of Larry Mabe to its group of coordinators. Larry served for many years as the lead engineer for the development of the displays used in notebook PCs at Compaq/HP. Larry was one of the primary figures in the original development of the SPWG standards.

In September 2004, to further gain benefit from experts in the field, the SPWG formed an advisory council. The Council was created to provide expertise from individuals with specific insights into the displays used in notebook PCs, without any vested interests in either the companies or the technologies related to the displays used in notebook PCs.  The Advisory Council is currently comprised of both technical and marketing professionals from around the world:  Paul Boynton (US), Eishi Gofuku (Japan), John Orr, (US), Jutta Rasp (Germany), C.E. Wang (Taiwan), and Chris Williams (UK) are the original members of the SPWG Advisory Council.

In early November 2004, SPWG coordinators Mark Fihn and Paul Salisbury traveled to Taiwan, Korea, and Japan to discuss the ongoing development of specifications for the next generation displays. Over the course of two weeks, the two met with representatives from more than 40 companies to discuss ideas related to what will be called SPWG v3.5 and SPWG v4.0.

The SPWG v3.5 specifications are expected to be implemented by the end of 2004 and will include some clarifications to the existing specifications as well as add 14.1”W panels to the defined panels. Of the many things discussed during the meetings, the question of whether to incorporate 14.0”W (1280 × 768) or 14.1”W (1280 × 800, 1440 × 900, 1680 × 1050, and 1920 × 1200) was the most debated topic.

After evaluating all of the pros and cons of the two alternatives, the SPWG coordinators recommended to the SPWG membership to standardize on the 14.1”W solution. A detailed explanation of these pros and cons is available at the SPWG website, (www.spwg.org, which is also mirrored on the DisplaySearch website). Although virtually all attendees agreed that the 14.1”W solution made the most sense, because HP has already introduced a 14.0”W panel, the debate centered on whether HP’s solution would win out over upcoming solutions at 14.1”W.  HP engineers published a widely distributed paper claiming advantages for the 14.0”W solution, but HP’s presentation only identified the pros of the 14.0”W solution and failed to consider the cons. More importantly, the HP presentation failed to consider the many pros of the 14.1”W solution. Since the HP engineers have a vested interest in promoting the panels they first introduced, their approach makes sense, but SPWG coordinators argued that “first to market” does not necessarily result in a winning strategy. Apple’s introduction of 15.2”W panels is a case in point, followed by NEC’s introduction of 15.3”W panels. Apple’s solution (15:10 aspect ratio) and NEC’s solution (15:9 aspect ratio) failed to adequately consider the many compromises demanded by the PC market, which ultimately standardized on 15.4” solutions (16:10 aspect ratio).  Similarly, HP’s 14.0”W solution (15:9 aspect ratio) may become quickly displaced by the 14.1”W form factor. In most respects, 14.0”W and 14.1”W panels are very similar.  The key differentiators are"

• 14.1"W is somewhat larger than 14.0"W in virtually all measurement methods, enabling certain marketing advantages.
• The 16:10 aspect ratio already exists for all other mainstream “wide” sizes, 12.1"W, 15.4"W, and 17.0"W.
• A resolution upgrade path is enabled by continuing a 16:10 aspect ratio in the 14.x” space.

Moving beyond the SPWG v.35 efforts, the SPWG coordinators also raised questions about several other areas of interest, for possible inclusion in the SPWG v4.0 specification. Items discussed included:

• New inverter connector
• Possible new sizes (10.4", >17.0")
• Panels for tablet PCs
• Support for 8-bit color
• High brightness, 2 CCFL solutions
• RGBW
• Better ways to measure resolution
• Better ways to measure color
• Pixel defect classification system
• Improved FOS performance measurement/definition
• “Glare” definitions
• Test/Measurement/Verification handbook

While not all of these items are likely to be included in the SPWG 4.0 specification, the discussions revealed a high level of interest in such factors.